Club career

Early career

Born in
Weilheim, Müller played as a youth for TSV Pähl, and at the age of 10[5] he made the 50-kilometre (31 mi) journey to join local
Bundesliga side Bayern Munich in 2000.[2] He progressed through the
youth system and was part of the team that finished runner-up in the
Under 19 Bundesliga in 2007.[6] He made his debut for the
reserve team in March 2008 when he replaced
Stephan Fürstner in a
Regionalliga match against
SpVgg Unterhaching,[7] in which he scored. He made two more Regionalliga appearances in the 2007–08 season,[8] while continuing to play for the under-19 team. The following season, Bayern's second string qualified for the newly formed
3. Liga, and Müller established himself as a key player – he played in 32 out of 38 matches[9] and scored 15 times[10] to make him the league's fifth top scorer.[11] He also became involved in the first-team under then manager
Jürgen Klinsmann; he appeared in pre-season friendlies,[12][13] and made his full debut on 15 August 2008, when he came on as a substitute for
Miroslav Klose for the last ten minutes of a
Bundesliga match against
Hamburger SV.[14] Despite Müller feeling that his performance did not go well,[15] he made three more Bundesliga appearances that season[9] and made his
Champions League debut on 10 March 2009 when he was substituted on in the 72nd minute for
Bastian Schweinsteiger in a 7–1 win over
Sporting CP. He scored Bayern's last goal as they won the tie 12–1 on
aggregate.[16]

Bayern Munich

In February 2009, Müller signed his first contract for the senior team, a two-year deal effective from the
2009–10 season, along with reserve teammate
Holger Badstuber.[17]

2009–10 season

Müller was prepared to be loaned or even transferred away to find first-team football,[15] but when
Louis van Gaal was appointed manager, both players became fixtures in the Bayern first team from the start of the season.[18] In the first few matches, Müller was a regular substitute, and on 12 September 2009, he was brought on against
Borussia Dortmund and scored two goals in a 5–1 victory.[19] Three days later, he scored another
brace in a 3–0
Champions League victory over
Maccabi Haifa.[20] He rounded off September by being named the Bundesliga Player of the Month[21] and earned praise from his namesake, legendary former Bayern and
Germany striker
Gerd Müller.[22] After the Haifa match, Müller was in the starting XI for almost every match,[23] only missing one match, a Champions League match against
Bordeaux, for which he was suspended,[24] because he was sent off in an earlier match against the same team.[25]

In February 2010, Müller signed a new contract with Bayern Munich through 2013.[26] During the second half of the season, Müller continued to be a regular first-team starter,[18] usually playing in a central striking role due to the availability of other
wide playersFranck Ribéry and
Arjen Robben. In April 2010, he scored the second goal in a 2–1 win against title rivals
Schalke 04,[27] and in the penultimate league match of the season, he scored the first
hat-trick of his career,[28] in a 3–1 win over
VfL Bochum which effectively secured the
German title for Bayern.[29] The title was confirmed a week later with a 3–1 win at
Hertha BSC,[30][31] a match which Müller started.

For the season, he played in all 34 Bundesliga matches,[32] starting 29, and recorded 13 goals and 11 assists.[18] Bayern and Müller were back in
Berlin the following week, to face
Werder Bremen in the
final of the
DFB-Pokal. Müller started the match and Bayern won 4–0 to complete the domestic
double.[33] Müller scored four goals and made two
assists during the competition, which made him its leading scorer for
the season.[34] Bayern's season ended in pursuit of a first
treble, in the
2010 Champions League Final against
Inter Milano at
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. It was not to be, however, as they lost 2–0, with both goals coming from
Diego Milito. Müller was in the starting line-up and had a key chance just after half-time, with Bayern 1–0 down, but his shot was saved by
Júlio César.[35] Müller felt particularly disappointed by this defeat,[15] but he ended his first season as a first-team player with 52 matches played and 19 goals in all competitions.[18]

In a poll conducted by the sports magazine
kicker, he was voted by his fellow professionals as the best newcomer of the 2009–10 season[36] and was named in the Bundesliga
Team of the Season.[37] Müller credits Van Gaal for having had the biggest part to play in his rise to success – the coach arrived with a reputation for promoting youth team players, particularly at
Ajax, and consistently gave Müller his chance in the first-team, going as far to say "Müller spielt bei mir immer" ("with me, Müller will always play").[38] Müller, in return, described Van Gaal as "a genius technician" who makes players "improve every time".[15]

2010–11 season

Müller returned from his post-
World Cup break to sign another contract extension, this time extending his stay at Bayern until 2015.[39] As with all of Bayern's World Cup participants, he missed much of
pre-season,[40] and his first match back was the
Supercup against Schalke 04 on 7 August.[41] He was named in the starting 11, and scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win.[42] Two weeks later he scored the opening goal of Bayern's
league season in a 2–1 home win against
VfL Wolfsburg.[43] Müller played in every match of the first half of the season, usually as a starter,[44] but as the team struggled for results, Müller was unable to match the previous season's goalscoring exploits,[44] being dropped to the bench,[38] and even receiving a telling off from Louis van Gaal after missing an easy chance in a 2–0 defeat against
1. FC Kaiserslautern in August.[15][45] He was philosophical about this dip in form, though,[46] and after eight league games without a goal, he scored in a 4–1 win against
Eintracht Frankfurt on 27 November;[47] He followed that by scoring in consecutive league and cup wins against
VfB Stuttgart three weeks later.[48][49] These goals took his tally to eight goals in all competitions[44] and included a spectacular goal to open the scoring in a 2–0 Champions League victory against
Roma on 15 September.[15][50]

As his team was on its winter break, Müller was left to reflect on what he described as "an almost unbelievable first year as a pro".[46] Müller began the second half of the season in good form, but was involved in an altercation with teammate
Arjen Robben, who was angered when Müller showed his displeasure at a poor free-kick Robben took during a 3–1 win at Werder Bremen.[51] Müller again played in every game of the season[52] and scored 19 goals (12 in the league),[53] but the season was less successful for Bayern, as they finished third in the league,[54] and were knocked out of the
DFB-Pokal in the semi-finals by Schalke 04[55] and in the
round of 16 of the
UEFA Champions League by Inter Milan; Bayern had won 1–0 at the
San Siro, and Müller scored 31 minutes into the second leg to make it 3–1 on aggregate, but Inter levelled the score at 3–3 in the 88th minute to go through on the
away goals rule.[56] Müller's mentor Van Gaal was increasingly criticised for inflexibility in tactical, transfer and selection policy,[57] and ultimately lost his job, being replaced with
Jupp Heynckes.[58]

2011–12 season

In Bayern's first
DFB-Pokal game Müller was awarded the man of the match after earning two penalties which were converted by
Mario Gómez and Bastian Schweinsteiger, Müller then added a third in the closing stages to secure a 3–0 victory over
Eintracht Braunschweig.[59] It took Müller five matches for him to get his first league goal; he scored it against Schalke 04 in Bayern's 2–0 win. Müller then scored in Bayern's next home game in the early stages of the match, which the went on to win, 3–0. On 26 November 2011, Müller netted the opener on the half-hour in Bayern's 6–0 thrashing of
FC Ingolstadt, giving him his second DFB-Pokal goal.[60] Müller was on the short-list of this year's
FIFA Ballon d'Or award.[61] On 10 and 15 January, in Bayern's warm up friendlies, Müller scored three goals in two games, a brace against the
India national team (which Bayern then went on to win 4–0)[62] and one goal in Bayern's other 4–0 victory over
Rot-Weiß Erfurt.[63] Müller provided two assists in Bayern's win over VfB Stuttgart in the
DFB-Pokal. On 11 February, Bayern played 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Müller ended a goal drought lasting since 24 September 2011 with a header in their 2–0 victory.[64] On 31 March 2012, Müller played his 100th
Bundesliga game against
1. FC Nürnberg.[65][66] On 19 May 2012, Müller scored the opening goal in the Champions League final against
Chelsea with a powerful header. He was substituted shortly afterwards. Bayern Munich, however, lost the final on penalties. Müller stated how dissatisfied he was about the amount of time he had spent on the bench recently.[67] Müller said that although he was dissatisfied he wanted to stay at Bayern.[67] During the season, Müller scored seven goals in 34 league matches, two goals in five German Cup matches, and two goals in 14 Champions League matches.[68]

2012–13 season

Müller's first
Bundesliga goal of the season came over
2. Bundesliga champions
SpVgg Greuther Fürth in Bayern's 3–0 victory on 27 August 2012.[69] On 2 September, he netted a brace as Bayern thrashed southern rivals VfB Stuttgart, 6–1, in front of 71,000 at the newly expanded
Allianz Arena.[70][71] Müller helped Bayern achieve a record-breaking start to the league season, when he netted a brace over newly promoted
Fortuna Düsseldorf on 20 October in their 5–0 victory, recording Bayern's eighth successive win.[72] Three days later, he scored his first
Champions League goal of the season, netting from the penalty spot, as Bayern defeated
Lille 1–0 at the French side's newly built
Grand Stade Lille Métropole.[73]

On 13 December, after his good run of form in the first half of the Bundesliga season, Müller pledged his allegiance claiming he was at home in Munich and that, "There is no club to step up from when you leave FC Bayern... there almost is no better club."[74] Six days later, he signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the Allianz Arena until 2017.[75] At the winter break in the Bundesliga, he had nine goals and seven assists in 16 league appearances and a further three goals in the Champions League;[74] this gave him a total of 13 goals halfway through the season, including his strike against Borussia Dortmund in Bayern's win in the
2012 DFL-Supercup. Müller scored his first goal in Bayern's second game back from the break in a 2–0 away win over VfB Stuttgart. Müller tapped in his fifth goal of the Champions League campaign on 2 April, completing a 2–0 first leg defeat of
Juventus in the quarter-finals, ending the Italian club's 18-match unbeaten record in Europe.[76] On 23 April 2013, Müller scored two goals and gave one assist in 4–0 win against
Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final in the Allianz Arena.[77] On the return fixture, Müller scored a header as Bayern won 3–0 and gave Barcelona their biggest defeat ever in the Champions League, with a 7–0 aggregate score.[78] Müller then went on to play an important role in Bayern's 2–1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the
final. On 1 June, Müller scored a penalty in the final of the
2012–13 DFB-Pokal.[79] Bayern won the cup 3–2 to complete an historic treble. Müller scored 23 goals overall in the season (including all competitions), netting 13 in the Bundesliga,[80] one in the Pokal,[80] and an impressive eight in the Champions League,[80] he also added one in the
2012 DFL-Supercup which Bayern won 2–1.[81] This topped off Müller's highest scoring season to date.[82]

2013–14 season

Müller began the
2013–14 season by playing in the German Super Cup. by scoring in seven of Bayern's 12 pre-season games. His first competitive match came against Borussia Dortmund in the German Super Cup.[83] On 5 August, Müller scored a hat-trick as Bayern won 5–0 in the team's
2013–14 DFB-Pokal first-round game against
Schwarz-Weiß Rehden. In Bayern's opening
2013–14 Bundesliga fixture, Müller missed a penalty for the first time. Seconds later, the save from the penalty flicked the hand of
Álvaro Domínguez which resulted in another penalty which
David Alaba converted. After this, Müller stated, "I am still happy to take penalties, but I think David Alaba is the main man for spot kicks for now." He played in the
UEFA Super Cup.[84] On 25 September, against
Hannover 96 in the second round of the DFB-Pokal, Müller scored twice taking his cup tally to five goals in just two games. On 28 September, Müller scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over VfL Wolfsburg, giving him his first goal in the
2013–14 Bundesliga. Müller scored his first
2013–14 UEFA Champions League goal of the campaign and Bayern defeated
Manchester City 3–1 at the
City of Manchester Stadium on 2 October. He played in a match at the
FIFA Club World Cup.[85]

On 17 May 2014, Müller scored Bayern's second goal in a 2–0 extra-time defeat of Borussia Dortmund in the
2014 DFB-Pokal Final, giving die Roten the tenth league and cup
double in their history.[86] Müller finished as the tournament's top scorer with eight goals in five appearances.[87] He finished the season by scoring 13 goals in 31 league matches, eight goals in five DFB-Pokal matches, and five goals in 12 Champions League matches.[88]

2014–15 season

After the
2013–14 season, Müller signed a new contract keeping him at Bayern until 2019[89] and rejected a contract offer from
Manchester United.[5][90] Müller played in the
DFL-Supercup,[91] which was Bayern's first match in the
2014–15 season. Bayern lost the match 2–0.[91] His first goal of the season was against
Preußen Münster in the
DFB-Pokal on 17 August 2014.[92] Then in the opening match of the Bundesliga,[93] on 22 August 2014,[94] Müller scored the opening goal of Bayern's Bundesliga season against VfL Wolfsburg.[95] Bayern went on to win the match 2–1.[94] On 11 March 2015, Müller scored two goals against
Shakhtar Donetsk in a 7–0 win[96] to draw level with former teammate Mario Gómez as the top-scoring German player in UEFA Champions League history.[97] He subsequently became the leader when he scored in a 6–1 win against Porto on 21 April 2015.[98] He finished the season with 13 goals in 32 league matches, a goal in five DFB-Pokal matches, and seven goals in ten Champions League matches.[99]

2015–16 season

Müller started the season by playing in the
DFL-Supercup against VfL Wolfsburg.[100] He started the
league season with two goals against Hamburger SV,[101] a goal against
1899 Hoffenheim,[102] two goals against
Bayer Leverkusen,[103] and a goal against
FC Augsburg[104] in the first four matchdays. He had scored from the penalty spot against Bayer Leverkusen[103] and Augsburg.[104] He failed to score in his next three Bundesliga matches.[105] He failed to convert a penalty shot against
Mainz 05 on matchday seven.[106] His next Bundesliga goal came when he scored two goals against Borussia Dortmund on matchday eight.[105] One of the goals was scored from the penalty spot.[107] His goalscoring continued in other competitions. He scored two goals against Wolfsburg in the second round of the
DFB-Pokal,[108] and in Champions League, two goals against
Olympiacos,[109] two goals against
Arsenal,[110] and a goal in the return leg against Olympiacos.[111] In scoring in the home win over Olympiacos, Müller became the youngest player to win 50 UEFA Champions League games, beating the record of
Lionel Messi by 14 months.[112]

On 9 December 2015, Müller came on as a 46th-minute substitute for Franck Ribéry in a 2–0 win against
Dinamo Zagreb.[113] He failed to convert his penalty shot in the match[114] and finished the group stage with five goals from six appearances.[105] On 18 December 2015, Müller signed a new contract with Bayern, keeping him at the club until 2021.[115] On 19 December 2015,[116] Bayern defeated Hannover 96 1–0[116] with a goal from the penalty mark from Müller.[117] Bayern went on winter break after the match.[117] Müller finished the first half of the league with 14 goals from 17 appearances.[105] This includes scoring five goals from the penalty mark in six opportunities.[105] He had scored 21 goals in 25 appearances in all competitions up until the winter break.[100][105]

On 12 March 2016, Müller scored a brace in a 5–0 victory over Werder Bremen.[118] Four days later, with Bayern trailing Juventus 1–2 in the second leg of the
Champions League round of 16, he scored a 91st-minute equaliser before Bayern won in extra time 4–2 (6–4 aggregate).[119]

On 19 April 2016, Müller scored both goals in Bayern's 2–0 defeat of Werder Bremen in the DFB-Pokal semi-final. His first goal of the match was his 150th for the club in all competitions.[120]

On 3 May 2016, Müller had a penalty kick saved by
Jan Oblak in the Champions League semi-final second leg at home to
Atlético Madrid. The match ended in a 2–1 win for Bayern but the team was knocked out on the
away goals rule.[121]

He finished the season by scoring 20 goals in 31 league matches, four goals in five German Cup matches, and eight goals in 12 Champions League matches.[105] He didn't score in the German Super Cup.[100]

2016–17 season

Müller started the season by winning and scoring in the
2016 DFL-Supercup against Borussia Dortmund on 14 August 2016.[122] In the league, Müller did not score for 999 minutes until he scored during a home game against
VfL Wolfsburg in the 76th minute.[123]